2013-14 Season Review: Nathan Horton

With possibly the biggest splash in the free agency market last year after a late season playoff push that saw the Jackets miss the playoffs by a measly point, Blue Jacket’s GM Jarmo Kekalainen pulled the trigger on a star forward that so many people thought the club would need to become a consistent playoff team; and his name was Nathan Horton. Horton inked a whopping $5,300,000 contract for seven years (totaling $37.1 million), which is the biggest contract since former GM Scott Howson decided to make sure that James Wisniewski would be set for life (6 years, $33 million) and the highest cap hit since Jarmo re-signed Sergei Bobrovsky to a bridge deal. Horton has the 3rd highest cap hit on the Columbus Blue Jackets, showing that Columbus wants him to be highly effective now and for the years to come.

Many hockey fans and analysts thought that Horton’s new contract was too large for a player who has only played all 82 games in the regular season twice in his 9 year career, although he did play almost all 48 games in the lockout shortened season in 2012-2013. Horton has had a very bad history of being injured, which is something that a bubble team such as the Blue Jackets should be concerned about when signing a star player for 7 years. Another concern surrounding Horton were his inconsistency during the regular season. Hint: This is a recurring theme throughout this piece.

Now, I’d like to get this out in the air: I love Nathan Horton. I really do. I love the signing, I love the fact that he wanted to come here, I love how he plays, and I love his character. But, this is a post to review Horton’s season, so I will assess his season fairly. I needed to say this because it might get a bit harsh.

Quick Look at 2013-2014: 

Horton played his first game on January 2nd after sitting out the first half of the season recovering from shoulder surgery (and I have to mention that Horton wasn’t able to do any sort of training at all for about 4 months afterwards). In the 36 games he played, Horton racked up 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points (.53 points per game). He ended the season on injured reserve and didn’t play in the playoffs.

Injury woes

Horton only played 36 games this year. Many give his first injury a slide because the Jackets signed him knowing that he’d be out half of the year because of his surgery. That being said, his second injury is very concerning and adds to the questions that Jarmo was faced with when he signed Nathan: Did Columbus overpay for Nathan Horton?

It remains to be seen if Horton will continue down the path of being a fragile star or if his body will finally allow him to silence the concern about his ability as a player, but if he continues to battle injuries season after season then the contract might become more and more criticized.

Streaks and records

Streakiness is one of the better ways to highlight Nathan’s inaugural season in Columbus. To start off with, the team went 9-1 in Horton’s first ten games. 8 of these 9 wins came in a row, which is a CBJ record for longest win streak in franchise history. Now, you might say that this is a lucky coincidence, but a presence on the ice like Horton can really put a spark in a young team.

After 4 goals in his first ten games, Nathan only scored one in his final 26, which was actually in the game against the Stars in which Dallas forward Rich Peverley had heart complications and the game was ended midway through the first period and postponed about a month.

This goal will actually go down in history because Horton received credit for it even though he didn’t technically play in the game because he was injured and didn’t play in the rescheduled game. So yes, Horton does have that record, and given the very strange conditions it doesn’t look like it will be broken in a while.

Effects off the ice

Although Horton’s season wasn’t all that remarkable on the ice as far as stats are concerned, his arrival to Columbus truly made a change in the culture of the club and this culture change reverberated throughout the entire league.

With Columbus often being ridiculed as a small market, the Blue Jackets could never really lure in any notable free agents. After their resurgence in 2012-2013, the club was looking for that one piece that could finally put them on the map and take them to where they needed to go. The Jackets managed to bring in a Stanley Cup champion, a clutch playoff performer, and the biggest free agent in the market. Horton was sought after by CBJ management and managed to pull him in. A star from one of the biggest hockey markets in the league signed with the “lowly” Columbus Blue Jackets. With this signing and their coming off of the best season in franchise history, Columbus is now seen as a more attractive market to any free agent out there who might not have even considered Columbus a few years ago.

Horton’s emergence as an immediate fan favorite also helped lay the path towards success off the ice. Blue Jacket fans and even those who don’t care much about hockey (how dare they?) all knew that signing Horton was a pretty big deal for the team. He brought excitement and hope to a market that we’re finding out is untapped, and Columbus could potentially establish itself as a “hockey city” if the Blue Jackets find repeated success within the next few years.

So far, Horton has brought along a love of hockey to Columbus, plain and simple. He’s encouraged growth of the fan base, respect from the rest of the league, and hope for a franchise that has spent most of it’s days trying to claw up from the bottom of the standings.

Final Thoughts:

Keep in mind that Horton performed fairly well this year without having a training camp or even being able to train on his own or even skate for months at a time. It’s honestly somewhat impressive that he could perform as well as he did given the circumstances. I firmly believe that Horton has the most in depth “hockey sense” on the team and has a vision of the ice that is hard to trump. He was a victim of poor circumstances in the 2013-14 season and was even blamed for being lazy, although I give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was just out of shape. He had good effects with Jenner and Johansen and I’m excited to see what a full offseason will do for Horton.

Expect for Horton to come out next year with no pain and completely in shape and able to handle the top line minutes with Johansen and Jenner that can range anywhere from 14 to 19 minutes on the ice. I have no clue whether he’ll be injury free next year, but I would think that having an entire offseason with the club will help cement himself into the organization. He will be a very valuable piece for the Blue Jackets next year and hopefully CBJ fans will be able to see him at his absolute best.